Xu Qing's eyes, usually as sharp as polished jade, turned several degrees colder when she heard Mu Chen's casual question.
"Heh, how ridiculous," Xu Qing mocked, her voice dripping with a lethal, icy sarcasm. "This is my designated territory. You entered this forbidden zone without my permission, and yet you stand there demanding to know what I am doing here? Shouldn't you be the one offering explanations for your intrusion?"
As she spoke, her gaze subtly and involuntarily scanned Mu Chen's upper body as he sat leaning against the blue stone. It was a well-known truth in the cultivation world that men were often driven by their lust, but the same could occasionally be said for women.
In Xu Qing's eyes, Mu Chen's physique was nothing short of perfection—lean, tempered. However, admiration for a well-built frame was a far cry from forgiving a blatant invasion of her personal space.
"Your name isn't written anywhere," Mu Chen said leisurely. He stood up from the hot spring, water cascading off his chest in silver droplets. He reached out to cradle Nibi, who was currently a damp, disgruntled ball of golden fur, against his chest. "If there isn't a sign, how am I supposed to know who this place belongs to?"
He spoke with the genuine indifference of someone who simply didn't see the problem. When Mu Chen had first entered the Source Pool, he had appeared directly to this tranquil valley. To him, it was merely a comfortable spot for a nap.
Nibi, for her part, shook the water from her fur with a vigorous shimmy, sending a fine mist onto Mu Chen's pants. She then perched on his shoulder, her amber eyes fixed on Xu Qing with great interest. The golden cat seemed to sense the unfolding drama and was clearly enjoying the spectacle.
Xu Qing found herself momentarily speechless. She was already in a foul mood after her recent frustration with the other Holy Children and seeing Mu Chen behave as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred only caused her anger to flare.
She was on the verge of unleashing a surge of spiritual Qi when the air around the spring suddenly fluctuated.
The space rippled like the surface of a disturbed pond, and Shen Xi manifested beside the blue stone. She took in the scene—the steaming spring, Mu Chen's wet hair, and the trembling, murderous aura of the woman in white.
"What happened here?" Shen Xi asked, her voice calm as she looked at Mu Chen.
"Someone needs to pay more attention to their surroundings," Mu Chen remarked, casting a brief glance at Xu Qing.
Xu Qing was currently in the middle of a serious mental examination of the newcomer when Shen Xi arrived. The moment Shen Xi stood there, Xu Qing felt a sudden, heavy pressure descending upon her. It was an aura that was in no way inferior to her own, pulsing with a refined, ancient power.
Shen Xi had been out hunting aquatic beasts, and her spiritual energy was still boiling from the heat of the recent combat, making her presence feel like a surging ocean.
When Xu Qing heard Mu Chen's remark, however, her focus snapped back to him. Her knuckles whitened as she clenched her fists.
"What nerve," she hissed.
She couldn't believe the audacity of this boy. Had he truly entered the inner sect with such a lack of restraint? He spoke as if the Holy Daughter were the one who had made a mistake by being in her own territory.
Shen Xi, having spent enough time with Mu Chen to interpret his silences, got a rough idea of the situation. She looked at the two of them and then back at Xu Qing.
Knowing Mu Chen's direct nature, she knew he didn't feel he had done anything wrong. If Xu Qing tried to press the matter, it would only ruin Mu Chen's mood, and Xu Qing wasn't technically wrong about her territory.
"Well, it is just a misunderstanding," Shen Xi said, turning to the Holy Daughter.
Xu Qing took a deep breath, forcing her surging spiritual energy back into her meridians. She also knew it was just a misunderstanding, and she could see that Shen Xi was a powerhouse who would be difficult to displace. Her tone remained cold, but the murderous intent began to recede.
"How about you help me with something?" Xu Qing proposed, her eyes narrowing. "I am not asking for a favour for free. If you assist me, you will receive a significant reward for your efforts."
Seeing Shen Xi's undeniable strength, a new idea had formed in Xu Qing's mind.
Shen Xi's interest was piqued. She tilted her head slightly. "What kind of collaboration are you suggesting?"
Xu Qing then explained her predicament. However, if the two of them worked together, they could hunt down a Thousand-Zhang Aquatic Beast, even if they had to fight against Sun Hai and Ye Ge.
Nibi, who had been listening with her ears pricked, suddenly hit Mu Chen's chest with a soft paw. She let out a sharp, insistent meow.
The moment she heard there were "big fish" to be found in the depths, her mouth started watering. Her whiskers twitched, and her stomach let out a tiny, hopeful rumble. The cat was suddenly very much in favour of this hunting trip.
"We can do that," Shen Xi agreed.
Xu Qing's mood improved slightly at the confirmation. "Good. Do you want to leave now, or do you need time to recover your energy?"
Before either Shen Xi or Mu Chen could reply, they were interrupted by a golden blur. Nibi leaped from Mu Chen's arms and landed on the grass between the two women. She looked up at both of them with a proud, regal tilt of her head, her tails swishing as if she were about to perform a grand ceremony.
"What is she doing?" Xu Qing asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.
"She thinks she can summon the Thousand-Zhang beast right here," Shen Xi translated, a playful glint in her eyes. "She says there's no need to go out into the deep sea to find them."
Xu Qing stared at the cat for a long moment before letting out a short, incredulous laugh. "What type of joke is this?"
If a Thousand-Zhang beast could be summoned by mere tricks, every Holy Son in the sect would be performing an eight-dragon baptism every other day.
Nibi ignored the skepticism. She stood up on her hind legs, her tiny paws moving through the air in a series of complex, graceful arcs. She began a strange, rhythmic footwork, her four legs moving in a pattern that looked remarkably like a high-level martial arts form. She puffed out her cheeks, blew a sharp breath of air into the mist, and let out a resonant, deep meow.
Nibi then looked over at Mu Chen and winked, her eyes asking if he had finished his part of the setup. Mu Chen, who had moved to a rocking chair at the edge of the clearing, gave her a silent thumbs-up with a small smile.
Nibi turned back to the two girls, her expression clearly telling them to wait and witness the power of the "Almighty Nibi."
Shen Xi simply smiled; she understood that Mu Chen and Nibi were playing their own game behind the scenes.
Xu Qing felt like her head was about to explode from the absurdity. "What the hell is—"
Her words were cut short as a low, guttural rumble rose from the spring. The water within the pool and the sea beyond the cliff began to churn violently. The mist was swept away by a sudden, surging tide of Source Qi.
"Get ready," Shen Xi said to Xu Qing.
Xu Qing felt as though she were trapped in a dream. She looked at the small cat, who was now preening her fur with an air of absolute smugness.
"How is this possible?" she whispered. "How did you guys do it?"
Nibi meowed in satisfaction. Did they really think she was "Almighty" in name only? She shot a single, disdainful look at Xu Qing before hopping back into Mu Chen's arms. Mu Chen reclined in his chair, rocking gently as he prepared to watch the show.
Shen Xi offered no explanation, her focus entirely on the water.
...
Somewhere in the source pool, through a thin veil of silver mist, a young man dressed in black walked calmly upon the surface of the jade-green sea. This was Sun Hai. His eyes were fixed on a massive, churning shadow beneath the waves—the Thousand-Zhang Aquatic Beast he had dreamed of securing, the very one he had just fought Xu Qing over.
Sun Hai was in no hurry to move in for the kill. He moved with a practiced patience, occasionally launching concentrated strikes of Source Qi to corner the beast, herding it toward a specific location.
"Ye Ge!" he called out. "Is the formation ready?"
"Waiting on your signal!" Ye Ge's voice drifted back from the distance. He was already in position, ready to close the spiritual net the moment the beast entered the trap.
But then, the world shifted. The massive shadow beneath the sea suddenly jerked. It wasn't a movement born of its own will; the beast seemed to be pulled by something—an invisible, irresistible hand that was dragging it away from the trap.
"This isn't right!" Sun Hai shouted, his sword Qi flaring. "Ye Ge, shut down the net! Quickly!"
Sun Hai noticed the anomaly instantly and tried to anchor the beast with his sword Qi, but it was useless. The creature vanished into the depths with a speed that defied the laws of the ocean, moving as if the sea itself were helping it flee.
The two Holy Sons stood on the surface of the water, staring at each other in stunned silence.
"What happened?" Ye Ge asked, his face pale.
"Why did it run away so suddenly?"
Sun Hai's voice was grim, his mood turning sour. The prey that was practically in his mouth had flown away, leaving him with nothing but salt and mist.
"What should we do?" Ye Ge asked, his shoulders sagging. "Should we continue searching for it?"
They both knew the answer. Once a Thousand-Zhang beast darted into the true depths of the Source Dragon Vein, finding it again was no less than impossible task.
...
Back at the spring, the sea water near the cliff was torn asunder. The surface erupted as not one, but several colossal Thousand-Zhang Aquatic Beasts appeared simultaneously, their massive forms breaching the water like mountain peaks rising from the tide.
"One... two... three... four," Xu Qing whispered, counting the behemoths as they surfaced. Her mouth remained wide open, her mind struggling to process the sight. One beast was a legend; four was a catastrophe.
"It is not the time to be shocked," Shen Xi said, her voice sharp as she snapped Xu Qing back to reality.
Shen Xi acted instantly. She teleported in front of the two closest beasts, her fingers weaving a blur of hand seals. A massive spiritual formation flared into existence in an instant, a silver barrier that trapped the two of them in a localized space.
Realizing they were caught, the aquatic beasts roared, their mountain-sized bodies ramming against the silver walls with a force that shook the valley. But Shen Xi's formation only rippled. She unleashed a series of ancient runes, each one designed for a specific purpose: some to suppress the beasts' movements, and others to devour their spiritual energy.
Shen Xi did not rush the kill. She moved in a rhythmic conversation with the trap, tightening the runes and bleeding the beasts' strength. When they were sufficiently weakened, she struck—not at their thick scales, but at the very law of their existence.
"Formation active: Suppress!"
The formation collapsed inward with a crushing force, pinning the beasts to the seabed. Her Green Lotus appeared, its petals detaching and flying forward like emerald blades. They pierced through the beasts' vital points, ending their lives in a single, clean sweep. Two massive, glowing cores drifted toward the surface, and Shen Xi caught them with a satisfied nod.
"Hehe, that was relatively easy," she said, her eyes bright.
On the other side of the clearing, Xu Qing was engaged with her own beast. She had focused her singular attention on one target. Her blade sang a high, mournful note as it cut through the churning water. It was a thin, elegant blade of condensed Source Qi that ignored the beast's armor and bone. She aimed specifically for the tiny seam behind the jaw—the creature's only true vulnerability.
The beast twisted, creating a tsunami of jade-green water, but Xu Qing twisted with it. She rode the pressure wave of its thrashing, her blade trailing a line of light that stayed suspended in the air. The cut opened wide, and she followed it in, emerging a moment later with a radiant core in her hand.
While the two women were engaged in their respective combats, Nibi pointed her paw toward the water. The fourth and largest beast rose from the depths, its head crowned with the barnacles and debris of ancient shipwrecks. It lunged toward the shore, its shadow swallowing the spot where Mu Chen sat.
Thousands of teeth descended, intending to crush the small man and his chair.
But the beast stopped. It wasn't struck by a counter-attack, nor was it blocked by a shield. It simply ceased all movement. Its massive nervous system seemed to forget the very concept of momentum between one synapse and the next.
Its eyes, golden and older than dynasties, filmed over with an expression of pure, unadulterated confusion. Then, a dull greyness took over. The beast hung suspended in the air, tons of meat and centuries of malice suddenly weightless, before it crumpled into itself.
A massive core crystal floated up from the remains. Nibi caught it in her mouth and trotted back to the chair, depositing the prize in Mu Chen's lap.
Shen Xi approached him, a teasing smile on her face as she looked at the cat.
"It looks like Nibi did all this work simply because she needed something to eat," she observed.
Mu Chen nodded, stroking the cat's fur as she purred against his leg. "Well, she has always been a bit dramatic about her snacks."
Xu Qing arrived a moment later, landing on the grass with her core in hand. She looked at the trio—the indifferent man, the smiling woman, and the small, golden cat—and realized with a sudden, chilling clarity that the Sky Sect had fundamentally underestimated these newcomers.